Warrior Nun Episode 1 Recap: A Second Chance At Life

Warrior Nun Episode 1 takes viewers on an intriguing journey.

Warrior Nun Episode 1 begins in quite an unexpected way: the narrator of the story, the main protagonist Ava Silva (Alba Baptista), is dead. Her voiceover talks about how she’d always fantasize about looking down at her own body and viewing herself as a normal girl instead of the freak she’s always been.

The nun who brought her body to the church requests that the cause of death be left blank. The monk is reluctant to leave it unrecorded but eventually agrees. He then gets a phone call and asks the nun to leave. This is when the action starts.

A group of young women wearing black comes into the church, carrying their wounded leader Sister Shannon (Melina Matthews). There are pieces of a substance called Divinium inside her. According to the surgeon who arrives soon after, taking the pieces out could kill Shannon.

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One of the young women, Sister Lilith (Lorena Andrea), insists that there is a protocol for situations like this one. Another woman named Mary (Toya Turner) is stubborn, not wanting to give up on her friend Shannon.

However, Shannon herself intervenes. She tells Mary she won’t make it and gives her a necklace, asking the surgeon to take something out of her. This turns out to be a round object that is in Shannon’s back.

As the surgeon is removing the object, Shannon warns Mary to keep it safe, or else all will be lost. No pressure, then. Shannon also tells Mary not to trust anyone, so she is full of ominous messages. The halo, as it turns out to be, is removed and Shannon sadly dies from her injuries. Unfortunately, the next Halo Bearer, Lilith, is immediately hit by falling debris as the fight they were fleeing comes to them. The surgeon runs away with the halo and puts it into a dead body for safekeeping: Ava’s body.

Warrior Nun Episode 1 truly begins to take off once Ava starts to wake up. She doesn’t stay dead for long. Thanks to the halo in her back, she is not only alive but has powers. After using them to defend herself from attacks from what seems to be an ordinary man possessed by some type of supernatural force, Ava sneaks out of the church.

A priest arrives at the church where everything happened. He meets Mary, who is taking the fragments of Divinium out of Shannon’s body. She wants to find out what holy relic they’re from and therefore trace it. The priest asks another young woman, Sister Beatrice (Kristina Tonteri-Young), for a description of what happened, which she gives.

He says he doesn’t want to know about that but wants details on their mission. This mission was apparently to retrieve an item, which they tried to do but were unable to because a bomb went off, severely wounding Sister Shannon. Sister Lilith then brings the monk to talk to the priest, whose name is Father Vincent (Tristán Ulloa).

Warrior Nun Episode 1 follows Ava as she tries to live her life to the fullest.

The monk tells Father Vincent how the surgeon hid the halo in a dead body to keep it safe. According to Father Vincent, human skin and tissue can hide the halo from any supernatural entity searching for it, which is why a dead body would be a perfect hiding place. Ava is then shown as she reunites with her roommate from the orphanage, Diego, and tells him all about her new abilities. Father Vincent shows up looking for information about Ava and talks to the nun who brought her body to the church.

The nun tells him that Ava was a quadriplegic. She never left the building or had any friends outside the orphanage. Meanwhile, Diego tells Ava that her new abilities and strength might be temporary, so she should enjoy them while she can. Father Vincent asks the nun how Ava came to the orphanage. Apparently she and her mother were in Spain on vacation when they got into a car accident. Since Ava’s mother was Catholic, Ava was given to the nuns at the orphanage.

Ava feels tired but doesn’t want to go to sleep in case she wakes up and everything is back to the way it was. She decides to jump into a pool, but quickly realizes she can’t swim. Luckily, she’s saved by a young man who introduces himself as JC. Ava meets JC’s friends, who are staying with him in a nice house. The story then follows Mary, who arrives at a church-like building where young women are training to fight.

Warrior Nun Episode 1 recap: Finding out more about Father Vincent.

She meets with Father Vincent and asks him what happened to Shannon. The people who killed her seemed to know they were coming and knew how to kill a Warrior Nun. Father Vincent tells Mary that he doesn’t know, but that they need to find the halo quickly. She wonders if removing the halo from Ava will kill her and Father Vincent doesn’t answer, which gives Mary all the information she needs. He then tells Mary that he needs someone he can trust to find Ava.

Meanwhile, Ava herself is talking with JC about how he and his friends squat in other people’s houses. JC explains that they only do so because the system works against them getting nice places any other way. So they stay somewhere for a few weeks, have the place cleaned, and move on to the next house.

Ava decides to join them and accompanies JC and his friends to a party at a building that used to be a prison. While Ava is enjoying the party, Mary is remembering Sister Shannon cryptically telling her that she loves her and all the other girls, and that you protect those you love. Shannon says that what she’s saying will make sense in the future.

Father Vincent goes to a bar and talks to the bartender about demons being real.  Ava sees some red smoke and follows it. Some kind of creature attacks and kills the monk who is taking care of Sister Shannon’s body. This creature then turns the body over and looks at Shannon’s back. The demon is looking for the halo, but it is too late. The halo is shown to be safe inside Ava’s body.

What did you think of Warrior Nun Episode 1? Are you looking forward to seeing Ava fully adapt to her new abilities? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. 

Season 1 of Warrior Nun is now streaming on Netflix.